Snack Run
by usernamealwaystaken
Summary: Peridot just wanted a snack but gets roped into working out to impress her new buff crush. It goes about as well as you would expect it to.


The incessant beeping on Peridot's alarm clock would've droned on and on if her roommate hadn't shut it off for her. Lapis sighed and looked at Peridot's sleeping form. She was sprawled out with headphones connected to her ancient iPod Touch. Why even bother to set an alarm when you were just going to drown it out with music anyway? Well, she was never going to hear the end of it if she let her sleep for stars knows how long, so she roughly shoved her awake.

"Morning, nerd."

Peridot groaned, pressed the pause button on her headphones, and took them out of her ears. She rubbed the sand out of her eyes and plucked her glasses from her bedside and only stabbed herself in the eye once before she finally got them on. With one eye half-lidded and the other outright refusing to open yet, Peridot acknowledged Lapis with a grunt.

Lapis started brewing coffee in the kitchen. Today was her day off, so she could take it easy and actually eat breakfast. She was too lazy to make anything more than instant noodles, but it was breakfast nonetheless. She nearly scalded herself when a sudden shout rang from her friend's room.

"AW FUCK, I'M LATE!"

Peridot emerged from her room fully dressed in her typical thrown together outfit. She worked at the T-Shirt Shop not too far away from her apartment. The pay was shit but it was enough to get by. Her boss had been on her ass about being late and she really didn't need to get chewed out right now.

On her walk, her stomach started to protest. She probably should have at least had some cereal before she left. If there was anything she learned from working in retail it was no never work on an empty stomach. That's just begging to have an even worse day than normal. She put a hand in her pocket. Only one dollar. Oh great, that's not even enough for a bad hot dog. She would have to settle for a small snack instead of any actual food.

Then she spotted it. When the gym opened up across the street, she initially paid it no mind. It's not like she would ever use it anyway. The only time she ever went in was that one time Lapis dragged her there to use the pool. If there was one thing she remembered from that day -besides Lapis swimming literal circles around her and making fun of her childish swimsuit- was that they had a vending machine. Peridot checked her watch. She was already late. Might as well be late with something to eat.

The inside of the gym smelt terrible, like when someone tries to cover up the smell of sweat with perfume. Peridot absolutely did not want to stay here any longer than she needed to. As she made her way deeper inside, she was stopped by a bored looking employee.

"Excuse me miss, but do you have a membership here?"

Aw shit. If she didn't have a membership, she wouldn't be able to get those sweet M&Ms she needed to get through the day! It wasn't worth it. That's like paying $101 to get a snack! Peridot sighed and cut her losses.

"It's cool. She's with me." said an unfamiliar voice.

The first thing Peridot noticed was her height. Her breasts were at eye level, so she had to crane her neck to make it look like she wasn't staring. Light blotchy stripes on her skin cut through the darker patches as they rolled over her rather impressive biceps. She must have come here often. A rough pat on the back nearly toppled her as the muscled woman handed her a guest pass and walked off. Peridot had to stop herself from staring at her retreating form so that she could get her snack. She looked down at the pass guiltily. Just using it to get a snack and leave felt like a waste. She could stand to stay a little longer.

After buying her snack, Peridot spotted her on a treadmill. She had changed into a stunning two piece outfit and Peridot couldn't help but notice how well they showed off her legs. Peridot shook the thoughts from her head. She had to focus! She's here to run, dammit. How hard can it be?

"You're working out in that?"

Peridot jumped as she noticed those golden eyes giving her a questioning, yet amused look. She was right, though. She was wearing a black shirt, a green flannel, and jeans. But she did have sneakers on. That was a plus.

Peridot puffed out her cheeks. "Yes! I am! I like doing it this way!" She said it a little louder than she intended and her voice cracked.

She was met with a shrug. "Suit yourself."

"Wait! I just wanted to thank you for the pass, uh…"

The woman gave her a big grin and a firm handshake. "The name's Jasper."

Peridot winced at the pain in her hand and tried to return the smile. "You can call me Peridot."

After a few minutes of deliberation, Peridot finally got her machine working. It started out at walking speed. This would have been fine, but Jasper was going way faster than she was. Peridot wasn't trying to impress her or anything, but she didn't want to be too slow. She boosted the speed a little bit. And then a little bit more. And then a little bit more. Within minutes, sweat started to pour from her face, causing her glasses to slide down her nose ever so often. Her breathing got heavier as her chest heaved. She looked over to see how Jasper was doing.

She was giving her a look of concern.

That did it. Peridot slipped up and fell. The speed of the treadmill sent her flying across the floor. She heard a few people trying to suppress their laughter. She refused to lift her head. Instead, she curled up in a ball out of pain, but mostly embarrassment. She heard Jasper's machine stop as heavy footsteps made their way over to her.

"You ok there, Peridot?"

Her only response was a weak 'go away', but Jasper wasn't having it. Jasper scooped her up in her arms and set her back on the ground. Peridot refused to meet her gaze. She wished she could just disappear. Jasper lifted her chin to face her. Peridot's face flushed. She was getting really close, but quickly pulled away. Peridot wasn't sure was she was expecting, but she felt somewhat disappointed.

"You've got a bruise on your forehead, but it's nothing major." Jasper walked over to her duffel bag and came back, scribbling something down on a piece of paper. "If you need help starting a workout routine or anything else, just call." With that, Jasper moved to a different part of the gym. Peridot looked at the torn strip of paper in her hands.

Jasper's number.

Later that day, Peridot came home. She immediately took off her pit-stained shirt and collapsed onto the couch. Before Lapis could even ask anything, Peridot covered her face with her hands and started laughing. Lapis looked at her with confusion.

"Ok, I have good news and bad news," Peridot said with a giggle still evident in her voice.

"What's the good news?"

"I'll be going to the gym more often."

Lapis raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you ever care about the gym. You complained the whole time we were there."

"Well, there's this girl I met there…"

Lapis gave a knowing look. "Ooooh, peri's about to bring somebody home!"

Peridot faltered. "It's not like that! I just got her number today. I don't even know if she's interested in me. But I'll need workout clothes."

"So? Put that employee discount to good use. Buy a change of panties while you're at it in case they get too wet."

"Lapis!"

"From sweating!" Lapis said with a smile.

Peridot gave her roomie a withering glare, but ultimately decided to disregard her commentary. "That brings me to the bad news."

"What's the bad news?"

"I got fired."


End file.
